A Chinese couple beat their daughter to death a few days before her third birthday because she could not recognise one Chinese character, a newspaper said on Friday. The father, identified only by the surname Zeng, and his wife, Zhang, were arrested in the central province of Henan on Wednesday after the attack on the girl who could not read the Chinese character 'jiao', meaning 'banana', the Beijing News said. The child 'with bruises all around the body' died in the hospital after…
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Life in China's orphanages can be bad enough, but life thereafter can be tough too. In much of China, children in state care are given unusual surnames that clearly identify them as orphans. Common choices are Dang meaning “party” (the Communist one, naturally), or Guo meaning “country” or “state”. Those saddled with these names face a lifetime of funny looks, or a bureaucratic quagmire trying to change them.
Roll over, Confucius. Education in China is being overhauled in the name of creativity. But will the changes also breed dissent?